Church History: The “Three Men At Work” in David Whitmer’s Field

[Third Hour]

Ever since I was a kid and learned about the three Nephites who asked Jesus Christ to grant them immortality so they could preach until the Lord's Second Coming, I've been intrigued — and I love any story that involves them. So naturally, when I read this story about David Whitmer's field being plowed on its own, I fangirled HARD. While part of the story is contained in the first volume of Saints, Joseph Smith's mother, Lucy Mack Smith, gives us some additional background about the miracle. And while it never explicitly says that it's the three Nephites who did this (or implies it... or mentions them at all...😅) it never DOESN'T say it's them either. And c'mon. It's gotta be. In fact, LDS.org's Revelations in Context series even tells part of this story under the title "The Experience of the Three Witnesses," so rest assured that I'm not just jumping to crazy conclusions over here. "I Saw . . . Three Men at Work in the Field" So basically the story...

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[Emmanuel Goldstein]

Three Disciples, not Nephites. They very well could have been the Three Lamanites, or the Two Lamanites and one Nephite. Funny how this became Three Nephites over the years.

[Vort]

17 hours ago, Emmanuel Goldstein said:

Three Disciples, not Nephites. They very well could have been the Three Lamanites, or the Two Lamanites and one Nephite. Funny how this became Three Nephites over the years.

I don't understand the correction. Were the three disciples chosen not Nephites? I realize that the "-ites" were all done away with by the unity of the people in a subsequent generation, but surely the term "three Nephites" is not incorrect.

[zil]

Hmm.  According to the heading for 3 Nephi 11, Christ came to "the people of Nephi", and chapter 12 (where the 12 disciples are called) continues what 11 started (same day), so I'm thinking they're Nephites.  I suppose there's room for doubt - there could have been technical other-ites mixed in the crowd - but the tradition appears to be to call those of the Church Nephites, regardless of their ancestry, so I'm thinking the term is accurate.